The bowl in my still life had belonged to my uncle, whom I was very close to. It brings back memories of him, and I like knowing that something of his lives on in my painting. I always loved the color and pattern in the bowl and thought the vibrant color of the tomatoes would work well with it. I set up the still life and was photographing the bowl and tomatoes for several hours with mostly eye-level shots. When I was pretty much done, I took a few photos looking down upon the objects. As I was reviewing them on my computer, my husband saw the last few shots and liked them. It was a more interesting viewpoint, and I decided to use one of them as my reference photo. I think the angle I chose to use looking down into the bowl and my use of light, color, and the different textures make this drawing interesting. It was an enjoyable piece to draw.

About Caryn Coville:

Caryn is primarily a colored pencil artist. Her realistic work is inspired by the world around her. She was awarded CPX signature status from the CPSA in 2017. Her award-winning work has been featured in numerous art publications and exhibitions and is in private and corporate collections.

Portraiture is my favorite subject. I want to reflect in my portraits the enormous and wonderful diversity of the human being. When I saw the image of this beautiful girl I loved it; she seemed like an antique queen in the forest. She had such a proud pose and a brave and sweet gaze at the same time. I had to draw her! I used a dark blue paper to obtain a color harmony and depth. This tone breathes through the drawing and brings an ethereal touch to the portrait. I love drawing on colored papers; in this case the very dark blue tone was a challenge since many layers are needed but it was worth it, since the figure is better integrated with the background.

AboutEsperanza Jimenez:

Esperanza Jimenez has drawn since she was a child, and colored pencils have always been her favorite technique. She has studied biology, graphic design, illustration, and different pictorial techniques which she uses to reflect the world around her. His favorite subject is people and animal portraiture.

I went to school with Hazel's mother Wendy and one day I saw her post this picture and knew I had to draw it! In the end I gave it to her and kept a scan for myself!

AboutJuli Nemeth:

I have been drawing since I could hold a pencil, with an obsession with re-creating a person's exact likeness on paper with any medium I could get my hands on. When computers and the digital medium came into creation, I had my hands in that also. I have always striven for perfecting the likeness of someone.